Vehicle wheel



Au 14,1923. Il,465,fl 3

W. N. TEW

VEHICLE WHEEL Filed Feb. 16, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LuveNTom .AJTORN EY-Ema I Aug. 14, 1923.

W. w. TEW

VEHICLE WHEEL Filed Feb. 16 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wi/Zz'am i fijw.

INVENTOR ATFORNEY.

li atented Aug. 14, 1923.

WILLIAM- w. rnvr, on Banks, ALABAMA.

vnrircnn'wnnnr.

a eas filed February is, 1922. Serial No. assess.

ToaZL whom itma y concern: Be it-kno-wn that I, 'WlLIJLi-M W. Tnw; acitizen of the "United-States; residing at 'Banks, in the county ofPilzeand State oi.

Alabama, have invented a Vehicle Wheel, of which the following is a fulland complete specification.

My invention is an improvement invehicle wheels-of that particular classin which asolid tire is employed and therequired-resiliency attainedbymea'ns-o'f springs interposed between non-flexible inner and outer Inwheels-of this type the springs are subjected to longitudinal andlateralstrain during the travel otthe-vehicle over a road, and inasmuch as theouter rim section is yieldingly connected to the rim of the innersection mountedori' the axle thestability oi? the wheel'structureingeneral use depends upon. the propercooperation of said outer rimsection with the other portions of the wheel to withstand the aforesaidstrain both longitudinally and laterally, and of course in providing forthis required stability the arrangement should not interfere'with theresiliency of the wheel.

It is the main objector my invention,

"therefore, to provide aspring wheel which will be.suiiicientlyresilient to provide for the" easy running of the" vehicleand in which any ordinary strain on thewheel structure, as for instancein starting the vehicle or in running the same over a rough roadway willbe taken careof eii'ectively and in such manner that not only isthestability of the wheel accomplished but also the springs thereof fullyprotected aswell as relieved'of undue strain'and consequent liability toinjury; the functioning of theseveral parts: for the purposebeing'iattained by an 'arrangement that is simple", inexpensive and"durable.

. A further object cf my invention is to provide a} vehicle wheel of fthis character which is" especially adapted for automobiles and motorvehicles andf'whichhas the appearance of an ordinary disk-w'h eel.

- My invention consists mainly inproviding a spring-wheel comprising an;inner section or small main 'wheel and 'an outer s'ectlon'ortreadportion," with springs interposed "therebetween; combined. withannular ,disks attached to one of said sections" and overlappingtheother section to provide for the show a'connectionior the springs.

. rigidity of the wheel when it is subjected to lateral strain.

ldy invention further consists in providing means for cooperation withthe annular disks and inner wheel section whereby a rigid connection 1Sestablished to relieve the interposed springs trom undue longitudinalstrain 111 starting the vehicle under stress '01: aheavy' load. i

- My invention inrther'consists in the particular construction andarrangement 01 parts'constituting the whole wheel structure,

all as hereinafterfully described and specifi- "cally set forth in theappended claim.

In the accompanying drawings F 1g. 1 1s a side view of a spring-wheelfor vehicles constructed 1n accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the front *plate or annular disk removedto show the arrangement of springs.

1* 1g. 8 1s a vertical sectional view throng the center of the wheel.

- Fig. 4 is a side view illustrating the wheel as it appears in'use,parts of the frontdisl:

being broken away to show the effect on the springs under thiscondition.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view through the outer portlon oi thewheel to 'Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fm. 5.

11g. 1 1s a SQOblOIlZLl. view through the rim cit-the inner section toshow a connection for the inner end of the springs.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detail hereinafter referred to. lncarrying out my inventionI provide an inner section 10, the form of a small conventional wheel tobe mounted for rotation onthe axle and comprising ahub 11 rim t2 andspokes 13. As this inner section or the inner rim 1251s to provideanannular space between. said runs to receive and permit therequiredactionfoi a series'oi spiral springs 15 which provide for the resiliencyof the wheel structure and are disposed radially between the rims, theannular space in the present instance*for a wheel for use in.

connection with an automobilebeing about two-thirds the diameter of theinner section or small wheellO.

12 and 14,-, and they are arranged close together to not only increasethe strength o-fthe wheel but also provide amaximum degree ofresiliency. Any suitable means nay-be emc 10 ployed for connecting' theends of these spiral. springs to the opposing rims 12 and 14:, but afirm connection of bothends should be made to utilize the expansion ofsaid springs at the upper portion of the wheel ,forms in which lugs areused to enter the.

2'0 l to; for instance the lug 16 projecting into thesmallereend of thespring is provided" with a boss 16 spaced fromlthe-rim l2and undercut toreceive the terminal portion of j said-spring;while the'lug 17 at theinner Fi t when those at the lower ortion are UIlClGIYCOlIlPlGSSlOl],and as-an example I have in Eggs. to-8,.1nelu s1ve, lllustrated oppositeends ofthe springs and providedwith means forattaching sa d sprlngsthereside of the outer riin receiving the outer or larger, end ofthespring has aholeQlS at 1 one side thereof in which. engages the-bent.end ofsaid spring. I

are non-fiexible, the resiliencyof the wheel depending altogether uponthecoiled springs The rims l2 and l4- permitting of the required'sprlngmovement between the inner and I outer sections, and as 'the outer rimortreadsection is turned by the inner section mounted on the axle,

rough road, in which latter instance'the [springs actas shockabsorbersto a greater outer rim.

' extent: than the" ordinary pneumatic-tired 'whee'ls. As hereinbeforestatedl prefer to or arrange the coiled springs close together andconsequently they will be tapered, as shown in the drawings, the taperdepending upon the width of the annular space between the inner andouter rims, and ofcourse thel ugslfi and 17 will fit tightlyinto theends or the springs so there will be no play at these points when saidsprings are subjected to the. strain required of them in turning the Inorder to cover the springs 15 for protection, and .mainly to limitlateral move{ ment of the outer section of the wheel with respect.toflthe inner section thereof I provide an annular disk 19 at each sideof the wheel,-'said disks fitting in the recesses 14.

at the'inner edges of the rim 14, being se; cured to said rim bybolts20, and'embrace; therimlQjofthe inner wheel section. Thecentralportionofeach disk is cut away cen-l I prefer to use coiled Vsprings in this annular space between the rims trally to a more or less:extent.v for there,

quired playjof the hub;. 1l in the operation of the wheel, and in" orderto relieve said disks of unnecessary Wear. on account of. theslightvertical and rotatab-levmovement of the sections Jon each other when'thevehicle is in motion the'portions of the disks at opposite sides of therim l2 areidisposed normally a slight distance therefrom, whereby theywill act'to brace the wheel only when the latter issubjeeted toexcessive lateral strain as for instance. in

same from a-strai ghtcourse.v

4 F or the purpose of relieving the springs' of undue strain lnlthedirection ofthe moturning the 5 mentum of the, wheel orr-adiallylvprovide" means for rigidly connectingithe two sections ofthe wheeltogeth'er' under such conditions where one section fails to rum theother easily,' as for. instance when thewheels are used in-eonnectlonwithaheavily loaded vehicle, and particularly in starting up such Lila'vehicle. Themeans I employ 'eonsists in 7 providing the rim 12' of-theinner section the wheel with'projections 21, and the disks 7 19 carriedby theother or outer section; with circular. opening s22- into .whichsaid proj ee tions extend and 'againstthelwalls jofjwhich they'engagedur ng excess ve radial movement of .onewheel section, on the other",the

size of said circular Iopeningsbeing such ,as to not interfere with thenormal move ment of the sections on each other, being slightly largerthan thepatlfof travel; of said progections in the openings undernore;ma1'con j r When wooden rims are used the lugs are provided with stems,as 16 17 respectively,

to project through holes itherefor in said Trims and receive nuts, 16,172 For the projections 21 .ontherim 12, which cooperate with thecircular ,openingsff22 in'the disks 19, I preferto-userollers 22 (Fig.9)" 'inounted "on 'a spindle 22F extending-trans, :versely through therim, -Furthermore,"to i secure the disks 19 to the outerrim l lthe boltsQO maypass transversely through said rim, as shownin Fig. 3,7forwhichpurpose said rim s provided with'ho1es 23. n w-J ever, these and otherdetails of 1 construction may be. modified without materially altering"the practical constructionand opera tion of my improved spring-wheelerajvoid ing'thescope of'the appended elaim;.. V

The operation of myimproved wheelin connection With a vehicle willbereadilyQun-T V f derstood' from the foregoing;description in,

connection with 1 the accompanying Ifdraw r ings, for the l0ad 0f thevehicle I coming; upon the wheels is supportedbythe ,jinner V and outersections-[0f the latter combination with thefinterposed springs, and;

when l the entire wheel? revolves the: springs at the lower portionthereof will com- Pr s d nd the w the i rrenr i nsri' panded, while theintermediate springs will yield to a corresponding degree, so thatpractically all the prings come into play to provide a Wheel structureof this kind that will possess the desired resiliency for the easyandcomfortable running of the vehicle. In the present instancethe disksnot only serve to cover the springs and protect them, as well as givethe Wheel the appearance of an ordinary disk-wheel but said disks formthe additional and more important functions of cooperating with the rimof the inner section of the wheel to prevent excessive movement bothlaterally and radially; thereby providing a spiing wlieel that willpossess the required stability in use. In other Words, my improved wheelhas a yielding spring movement between the non-flexible inner and outerrims for resiliency and atthe same time provides for practicallyconnecting said sections together rigidly when undue strain comes uponthe wheel to exert extraordinary force either laterally or radially. V

When the wheel is applied to an ordinary animal-drawn vehicle the innersection is turned by the outer section through the intervention ofthecoiled springa'and liliewise when the wheel is applied as the frontwheels of a motor-driven vehicleor automobile; but when applied as therear or driving-wheels of an automobile the operation is reversed-theouter section being turned by the inner section. In applying the wheelto motor-vehicles it may be necessary to provide only the driving-wheelswith the means, as projections 21 and openings 22, for rigidlyconnecting the sections to withstand radial strain.

The outer rim ll may be provided with any suitable tire, as for instancea solid rubber tire 25, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and itwill be understood that the relative sizes of the different parts willdepend upon the use to which the wheel is to be put; that is whether itis built for an automobile, a truck, passenger-bus, etc.; but in eachinstance are only required to be stout enough to take care of the weightof The bracing features of my improved spring wheel also prevent thepull of one section on the other from tearing the springs loose from therims, this pull being principally on the rear wheels of a motondrivenvehicle and to a considerable degree in starting, es pecially when thevehicle is heavily loaded.

I will employ coiled springs in which the convolutions are normallyseparated to such an extent as to give expansibility when the springsare under compression at the lower part of the wheel and exertcontraction when at the upper part of the wheel, but providing againstthe springs being pulled or stretched beyond their normal length to suchanextent as to weaken their spring action.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

A vehicle wheel comprising an inner main section having a hub, spokesand rim with inwardly-tapered lugs projecting outwardly from the rimeach lug having a hooked pro jection at one side thereof; a supplementalrim with tire forming the outer section of the Wheel and having inwardlyprojecting lugs each With a transverse hole therethrough, and coiledsprings interposed between the aforesaid rims or section of the wheeland tapered inwardly for close arrangement radially,'the outer end ofeach spring engaging the hole in one of the aforesaid lugs on the outerwheel section and the contracted inner end of each spring closelyembracing one of the aforesaid tapered lugs on the inner section of thewheel with the terminal thereof engaging the hook-projection; togetherwith annular disks bolted to the outer wheel section and having circularopenings therein on a plane with the rim of the inner section which theyembrace, and

rollers at the sides of the rim of said inner sectlon projecting lntosaid openings.

. WILLIAM W. TEW.

